Adorning the Dark: Introduction

I still remember buying my first Andrew Peterson CD. 

I was a mere junior high student browsing a wall of music at the local Christian bookstore. I squatted down to look at the bottom shelf (my sweat pants hiking up awkwardly to mid-shin, no doubt), and there it was: an unobtrusive little album called Carried Along. The cover art featured a greyscale picture of a hammock, but what really caught my eye was the yellow discount sticker: $7.99. 

Sold. 

Becoming a Fan

It’s odd that I remember the purchase in such detail but fail to remember my initial impression of the album itself. I’m sure I liked it. I must have, because I went on to buy all the rest of his albums as they came out. Besides, his folksy, poetic writing style was (and is) just up my alley. Every time I’d open a new CD, I’d eagerly check to see which of my favorite authors he’d quoted on the “flyleaf” this time. I was never disappointed. Gerard Manley Hopkins, J.R.R. Tolkien, all kinds of stuff that proved we were cut from—if not the same cloth, at least complimentary cloths. 

The years went on, and my enjoyment of Peterson deepened even as his craft and style matured. I remember a three-month stretch where I played Resurrection Letters, Volume II every morning as I got ready. My copies of Behold the Lamb of God and The Burning Edge of Dawn should be worn thin, and yet I still tear up listening to several of those songs. Skeptical? Go ahead and listen to “The Sower’s Song” or “Behold the Lamb of God.” 

From Tunes to Tomes

Then he started writing books. Be still, my heart. His youth fiction series, The Wingfeather Saga, is one I’m proud to own. I’ve read it through twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. They carry overtones of other books I love (Harry Potter and Narnia most notably), but they’re liberally basted with silliness, humor, and redemption. Good stuff. 

But the book I got most excited about is the one I’d like to spend several posts discussing with you. It’s called Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making. Once I got this book for Christmas last year, I couldn’t stop reading it. His style is so engaging and personal that it feels more like a conversation than a lecture. But the content is exactly what I needed to hear. It’s a gentle encouragement and a kick in the britches all at once. Let me show you.

Sneak Preview

His book isn’t strictly about writing; it’s about creating, and that could be anything from paintings and songs to meals and gardens. But anything creative takes discipline to some degree, and that’s the part that often feels like a kick in the britches. Peterson doesn’t let you off the hook for doing the hard stuff. Instead, he says, “The best thing you can do is to keep your nose to the grindstone, to remember that it takes a lot of work to hone your gift into something useful, and that you have to learn to enjoy the work—especially the parts you don’t enjoy” (2). And he adds a real zinger a few pages later: “Being a writer doesn’t just mean writing. It means finishing” (15). Ouch. 

But he also kindles the smoldering flame of creativity and offers encouragement to those who are struggling. “Those of us who write, who sing, who paint, must remember that to a child a song may glow like a nightlight in a scary bedroom. It may be the only thing holding back the monsters. That story may be the only beautiful, true thing that makes it through all the ugliness of a little girl’s world to rest in her secret heart. May we take that seriously. It is our job. It is our ministry. It is the sword we swing in the Kingdom, to remind children that the good guys win, that the stories are true, and that a fool’s hope may be the best kind” (123). 

Exciting Stuff on the Horizon

Those are just a few of the nuggets that can be mined from Adorning the Dark, but believe you me—there’s more where that came from. I’m stoked to study the book together with you! Until next time, keep your nose to the grindstone, but keep your eyes on the goal. Take heart: all your acts of creativity can be kingdom work, even (especially) making Christmas cookies. Which is what I’m off to do right now. But I think I’ll listen to Behold the Lamb of God while I bake, making it a doubly-holy pursuit. 

Amen and amen. 

Peterson, Andrew. Adorning the Dark. Nashville, B&H Publishing, 2019.